The Plymouth Board of Works has decided to move forward with contract negotiations between themselves and the company tentatively tasked with completing upgrades at Plymouth’s Wastewater Treatment facility.
During Monday night’s meeting, Mark Sullivan with Midwestern Engineers, the company acting as an advisor to the City of Plymouth on the work provided an update. Contract talks have been progressing for several weeks with Kokosing Industrial, but there remain a few details to be ironed out.
Sullivan says it’s going through the proper channels.
“That is progressing along and I think we’re at the point where we’re close,” says Sullivan.
A draft contract was provided for Board member’s review at their last meeting. Plymouth City Attorney Sean Surrisi said Monday night that he had made a few recommended changes.
One of the components of the contract is a detailed explanation of the scope of the work. There have been some changes to the project since bids were first received. It’s expected to increase the cost of the work by about $79-thousand, for a contract price of $10.8-million.
Sullivan says part of the reason for the details involves the use of a guaranteed savings contract – which is made up of several parts.
“Essentially, in a very generic term, it says: what would this project cost 10 years from now versus doing it today? They take into account an older plant that has high maintenance costs and what those maintenance costs are over 10 years,” says Sullivan.
Plymouth’s city attorney says he believes that the few contract details left will be ironed out in the coming days.
The Board of Works voted to proceed with the contract talks in their current form.
